After more than five hours of talks Wednesday ended with no agreement, Republican and Democratic leaders from the House and Senate will resume talks early Thursday with time running out on the Legislature’s lame duck session.

Lawmakers sent mixed signals about whether a deal to raise an extra $1.2 billion a year was close at hand.

Democrats said they remained far apart from the position taken by House Speaker Jase Bolger, who they said was the main obstacle to an agreement because he wouldn’t allow a plan passed by the Senate to get a vote in the House.

Bolger insisted he had compromised in the talks and said the House wouldn’t support the Senate plan, which called for roughly doubling of fuel taxes to raise $1.2 billion to spend on roads.

The House has passed a plan that would also raise $1.2 billion, but would do it with no net tax increase by shifting sales tax money mostly earmarked for schools and local governments to pay for roads.

Gov. Rick Snyder said talks were aimed at blending the House and Senate plans.

“We’ve had constructive discussions over two or three days,” Snyder told reporters. “Are we where we need to be? No. Have we seen progress? Yes.”

He said he’s concerned the chance to reach a deal could be slipping away. “Today we need to get something resolved,” he said Wednesday. “Time is running short.”

Snyder said negotiations are difficult because any deal must incorporate several principles, including raising enough money to fix roads, making sure schools and local governments are not hurt by the change, and, longer-term, having a system in which all taxes paid on fuel sales are used for roads and transportation.

Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, said putting a sales tax increase to voters — with or without a separate legislative solution being passed — is among the ideas being discussed. He said it’s also important to solve the “structural problem” of charging a 6% sales tax on fuel sales when the resulting revenues are not primarily spent on roads.

All the parties in the talks agree they want a package that, when fully implemented, allows Michigan to spend at least $1.2 billion more a year on roads and bridges than it spends today. The House and Senate have each passed plans to do that, but their plans are vastly different.

Richardville, House Minority Leader Tim Greimel, D-Auburn Hills, and Whitmer have been prepared to OK a rough doubling of gas taxes or other new revenue measures to reach the $1.2-billion goal. Bolger wants to shift sales tax revenue to roads and limit the size of the overall tax hike.

Whitmer has called for an up-or-down House vote on the Senate plan, but that can’t happen without Bolger’s approval.

There’s also talk of asking voters to approve a one-percentage-point hike in the sales tax, but Snyder has said he only wants to put a question to voters as an alternative to a workable funding plan already approved by the Legislature.

Richardville said that may not be possible. It’s possible the Legislature could pass a proposed constitutional amendment — which would require a two-thirds vote in each chamber of the Legislature — and ask voters if they want to OK it, he said.

“I think everybody wants that as a fallback, but it might be a situation that’s different than that. It might be a situation where the Legislature steps up, which would require a two-thirds vote. It’s a pretty gutsy move, but then the people would have to decide whether it’s a good idea or not.”

He said “in a perfect world it’s always best to have a safety net,” but “sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t.”

Most sales tax revenue goes to schools and local governments. Bolger’s proposal would gradually remove the 6% sales tax from fuel sales while at the same time increasing the fuel tax to keep pump prices constant. It has drawn harsh criticism. The House Fiscal Agency says such a move would take away hundreds of millions of dollars now earmarked for schools and local governments.

Though many experts agree it would be preferable if all taxes raised from fuel sales were devoted to roads, lobbyists were concerned by Richardville’s talk of sending a proposed constitutional amendment to voters without first passing a legislative measure that would provide more road funding if the ballot initiative failed.

“Our concern has always been that a ballot initiative without passing a road solution through the Legislature is really a failure by the Legislature to act on this,” said Lance Binoniemi, vice president of government affairs for the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, representing road builders.

“We think there is a plan out there that the Senate has already passed that we think can get the support of the House.”

Road bills now before the Legislature dissolve at the end of this year, meaning a new group of lawmakers would have to start over on a road-funding plan in January.

Local leaders such as Flint Mayor Dayne Walling say the Senate plan to hike gas taxes is “a balanced and bipartisan road-funding bill that has broad support.”

Not everyone agrees.

Joey Albright of Redford Township, an instructor and outreach coordinator at a health center in Ypsilanti, said he feels lawmakers are being pressured into a tax hike many residents don’t want.

“With both state and local taxes rising yearly, we are hard-pressed to afford another increase,” Albright said.

“Gas is just now becoming affordable, and everyone wants to screw that up for those of us who are benefiting from the lower prices.”